It is always desirable to detect diseases early in their progress. Early detection enables early treatment which has generally been proven to yield a higher success rate in treating various diseases. It has been discovered that analyzing peoples' eyes, and in particular the lenses of the eyes, can yield indications of various types of diseases. For example, researchers have found β-amyloid peptides and aggregates thereof in the supranucleus of the lens of the eyes of Alzheimer's disease [AD] victims. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,297,326 of Goldstein et al. Since the supranucleus is only a fraction of a millimeter thick, measurements obtained from this region of the crystalline lens need to be accurate in location, specific in information and fast in acquisition. This is especially true because the human eye is in almost constant motion even when a patient is fixating on an illuminated target.
It has been shown that the presence of, or an increase in, the amount of β-amyloid peptides and aggregates thereof in the supranuclear and/or cortical lens regions of a test mammal's eye compared to a normal control value indicates that the test mammal is suffering from, or is at risk of developing, a neurodegenerative disease such as an amyloidogenic disorder.
There is an ongoing need for systems and methods for permitting early detection of amyloidogenic disorders.